A New Intel Brand: Do Wholesale Changes Foretell a Better Day at Intel?

I've always considered Intel to be one of the world's best-managed technology brands. Last year, Interbrand ranked Intel as the fifth most valuable brand in the world. And it consistently stays in the top ten because management works hard to make sure the brand remains relevant in the fast-moving semiconductor market.

Of late, Intel has garnered a lot of press regarding the sweeping changes management intends to make in the company's brand and product line. In many ways, these changes will send the world's largest chipmaker into uncharted territory. Some analysts are saying that Intel's new direction will necessitate creating a new brand. However, at its core, I believe Intel will very much remain the same company, mainly because the deeply established core values that drive the Intel brand are alive and well and working exactly as designed.

Under founder Andy Grove and successor CEO Craig Barrett, Intel thrived by concentrating on the microprocessors that power personal computers. They invested billions of dollars in plants that could crank out millions of processors, and in the process they helped give life to the age of the personal computer with ever-faster, more powerful chips. Occasionally, Grove and Barrett ventured into areas beyond microprocessors and personal computers. But from the outside, those tentative forays looked more like cautious experiments than full commitments to new markets. For the most part, Intel stuck to its very narrow focus, and in doing proceeded to bury the competition.

A New Direction

New CEO Paul Otellini appears to be steering Intel in a very different direction. Instead of remaining focused on PCs, he's pushing the company to play a key technological role in a half-dozen fields, including consumer electronics, wireless communications and health care. And rather than continuing to focus solely on microprocessors, he wants Intel to create a variety of chips and software and then meld them together into what he calls "platforms."

With Grove and Barrett at the helm, Intel first provided customers with full sets of technology ingredients, such as microprocessors, chipsets, communications chips and base software capabilities. Under Otellini, Intel will develop complete technology platforms based on Intel ingredients, an evolution best evidenced with the introduction of IntelÒ Centrino(TM) mobile technology. Even the "Intel Inside" logo will disappear, to be replaced by an updated Intel logo with a swirl around it to signify movement. And for the first time since the early 1990s, the company will add a tagline: "Leap ahead."

At first glance, all of this looks like a sharp departure from the company Grove and Barrett built. However, upon closer examination, these moves turn out to be very "Grovesk" at their core.

In December 2005, Grove's photo appeared on the cover of Fortune magazine, accompanying an article entitled "How to Become a Great Leader." Fortune stated that Grove, 69, has never lost track of the truth -- that Intel has always been one wrong move away from disaster and that a closed mind is the trap door to the abyss. During his tenure as CEO, Grove made numerous "bet-the-farm moves" could have killed the company but ended up propelling it forward. For example, his decision to get out of the now commodity memory chip business and focus solely on microprocessors. Or the decision to stick with Intel's mainstay chip technology, CISC, rather than pursue the new, more glamorous, RISC technology. Or the decision to focus on microprocessors for PCs and invest billions of dollars in plants to manufacture them.

While it appeared that Intel was doing most of the adapting, it was really Grove himself who underwent the most radical change. Forcing himself to constantly adapt to a succession of new realities, he left a trail of discarded assumptions in his wake. Grove attacked every problem the same way, by setting aside everything he knew. Fast-forward to the present, and it looks to me like Otellini and team are doing the exact same thing in the exact same way that Grove taught them.

The Old Values Remain

In its January 9, 2005 edition, BusinessWeek ran a cover story entitled, "Intel Inside Out: How It's Shaking Off the Andy Grove Era." I don't think so.

From my perspective, the legacy of Grove is very much alive and well at Intel. If fact, the article states that when asked about the sweeping changes at Intel, Grove replied in the following manner: "I want to say," he boomed, "that this program strikes me as one of the best manifestations incorporating Intel values of risk-taking, discipline and results orientation I have ever seen here. I, for one, fully support it."

What a leader! Grove understood that the sweeping changes at Intel were not an indictment of his and Barrett's leadership. Rather, he recognized that times had changed and that Intel needs to -- again -- change with them.

Perhaps Grove's greatest legacy is the strength with which he built in the values that drive Intel's brand. If the new management team remains true to those values, and I believe they will, Intel will continue to make the right moves in a market where change is not only constant but is accelerating all the time.

Get your free whitepaper: The 10 Biggest Technology Marketing Mistakes... and How to Avoid Them

Rod Whitson serves Townsend as President and Chief Brand Strategist. Townsend is expert at helping organizations with innovative products and services develop differentiated, compelling value propositions. Townsend is the largest integrated marketing agency in Southern California. Rod has personally led recent branding engagements with Intel, BAE Systems, Merck, DowPharma, Marsh & McLennan, and the University of California system. He has also worked with a host of successful and not so successful early stage technology and life sciences companies. Since Townsend?s founding in 1993, it has helped clients create market valuation in excess of $80 billion.

Visit Rod's blog, Branding the Complex

? 2006 Rod Whitson - All Rights Reserved Worldwide

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A New Intel Brand: Do Wholesale Changes Foretell a Better Day at Intel?

I've always considered Intel to be one of the world's best-managed technology brands. Last year, Interbrand ranked Intel as the fifth most valuable brand in the world. And it consistently stays in the top ten because management works hard to make sure the brand remains relevant in the fast-moving semiconductor market.

Of late, Intel has garnered a lot of press regarding the sweeping changes management intends to make in the company's brand and product line. In many ways, these changes will send the world's largest chipmaker into uncharted territory. Some analysts are saying that Intel's new direction will necessitate creating a new brand. However, at its core, I believe Intel will very much remain the same company, mainly because the deeply established core values that drive the Intel brand are alive and well and working exactly as designed.

Under founder Andy Grove and successor CEO Craig Barrett, Intel thrived by concentrating on the microprocessors that power personal computers. They invested billions of dollars in plants that could crank out millions of processors, and in the process they helped give life to the age of the personal computer with ever-faster, more powerful chips. Occasionally, Grove and Barrett ventured into areas beyond microprocessors and personal computers. But from the outside, those tentative forays looked more like cautious experiments than full commitments to new markets. For the most part, Intel stuck to its very narrow focus, and in doing proceeded to bury the competition.

A New Direction

New CEO Paul Otellini appears to be steering Intel in a very different direction. Instead of remaining focused on PCs, he's pushing the company to play a key technological role in a half-dozen fields, including consumer electronics, wireless communications and health care. And rather than continuing to focus solely on microprocessors, he wants Intel to create a variety of chips and software and then meld them together into what he calls "platforms."

With Grove and Barrett at the helm, Intel first provided customers with full sets of technology ingredients, such as microprocessors, chipsets, communications chips and base software capabilities. Under Otellini, Intel will develop complete technology platforms based on Intel ingredients, an evolution best evidenced with the introduction of IntelÒ Centrino(TM) mobile technology. Even the "Intel Inside" logo will disappear, to be replaced by an updated Intel logo with a swirl around it to signify movement. And for the first time since the early 1990s, the company will add a tagline: "Leap ahead."

At first glance, all of this looks like a sharp departure from the company Grove and Barrett built. However, upon closer examination, these moves turn out to be very "Grovesk" at their core.

In December 2005, Grove's photo appeared on the cover of Fortune magazine, accompanying an article entitled "How to Become a Great Leader." Fortune stated that Grove, 69, has never lost track of the truth -- that Intel has always been one wrong move away from disaster and that a closed mind is the trap door to the abyss. During his tenure as CEO, Grove made numerous "bet-the-farm moves" could have killed the company but ended up propelling it forward. For example, his decision to get out of the now commodity memory chip business and focus solely on microprocessors. Or the decision to stick with Intel's mainstay chip technology, CISC, rather than pursue the new, more glamorous, RISC technology. Or the decision to focus on microprocessors for PCs and invest billions of dollars in plants to manufacture them.

While it appeared that Intel was doing most of the adapting, it was really Grove himself who underwent the most radical change. Forcing himself to constantly adapt to a succession of new realities, he left a trail of discarded assumptions in his wake. Grove attacked every problem the same way, by setting aside everything he knew. Fast-forward to the present, and it looks to me like Otellini and team are doing the exact same thing in the exact same way that Grove taught them.

The Old Values Remain

In its January 9, 2005 edition, BusinessWeek ran a cover story entitled, "Intel Inside Out: How It's Shaking Off the Andy Grove Era." I don't think so.

From my perspective, the legacy of Grove is very much alive and well at Intel. If fact, the article states that when asked about the sweeping changes at Intel, Grove replied in the following manner: "I want to say," he boomed, "that this program strikes me as one of the best manifestations incorporating Intel values of risk-taking, discipline and results orientation I have ever seen here. I, for one, fully support it."

What a leader! Grove understood that the sweeping changes at Intel were not an indictment of his and Barrett's leadership. Rather, he recognized that times had changed and that Intel needs to -- again -- change with them.

Perhaps Grove's greatest legacy is the strength with which he built in the values that drive Intel's brand. If the new management team remains true to those values, and I believe they will, Intel will continue to make the right moves in a market where change is not only constant but is accelerating all the time.

Get your free whitepaper: The 10 Biggest Technology Marketing Mistakes... and How to Avoid Them

Rod Whitson serves Townsend as President and Chief Brand Strategist. Townsend is expert at helping organizations with innovative products and services develop differentiated, compelling value propositions. Townsend is the largest integrated marketing agency in Southern California. Rod has personally led recent branding engagements with Intel, BAE Systems, Merck, DowPharma, Marsh & McLennan, and the University of California system. He has also worked with a host of successful and not so successful early stage technology and life sciences companies. Since Townsend?s founding in 1993, it has helped clients create market valuation in excess of $80 billion.

Visit Rod's blog, Branding the Complex

? 2006 Rod Whitson - All Rights Reserved Worldwide

Customer Service is Getting Better!

Through the last 5 to 6 years our customer service in the US has been atrocious and I would cringe every time I thought I would have to use customer service on most every product I was using. You couldn't understand what they were saying; they really had no idea what they were doing and we couldn't figure out what the heck to do. I purchased about 1 ½ ago a HP Desktop computer with all the bells and whistles, I also got a 2 year service agreement which I have used a few times and it has paid for that service contract 5 fold.

The greatest part of this is the fact that HP technicians all spoke very clear American English and also knew what the heck they were doing and if they didn't know they would tell you and still try to resolve the problem. They resolved every problem I had and very quickly.

I had a big problem last week with a Microsoft program, Windows Movie Maker, which I have used many times but not on a big project. This project was 7 times larger than any of the other video/movies I had put together with music and pictures. I was confident that I could get it done but was under a dead line to get it done within 5 days. My husband and I worked together scanning the pictures into the computer and got that done in one day. From there on I started placing the pictures in and then the music, all of a sudden the program quit responding and I had to keep rebooting it. Sometimes it would save, sometimes it newouldn't, it was very frustrating and nerve racking, to say the least. I started reading what was on the Knowledge base at Microsoft and found nothing about this problem, I did a Google search and there were a lot of idiotic things to try and fix it, no of them work! I suggest you check with Microsoft and not take suggestions that on out there on the search engines, it could hurt your system and then you have more of a headache.

On the 4th day I finally called Microsoft, I told them the problem and they documented it but told me that I needed to contact HP, the one who held the license and they would help me. I thought, oh boy here we go with a run around game. So I called HP and they were Awesome, helping me out and getting the problem resolved.

The best part is still to come! HP called me the next day after going to the event that we needed this for, and asked how everything went and did they help with the problem. I was very excited and told them, that from my experience I will always buy HP and will tell everyone to Buy HP. Their service is impeccable and you can understand them, they are in the US.

Next day Microsoft call me and ask me if I got the problem resolve. I told them yes and that they needed to update their Knowledge base with the information I had went through trying to get this movie done. They were very receptive and took every step down and assured me that it would be posted to the knowledge base. They thanked me for being so generous with the information and also told me that they are improving their customer service. I truly believe that they are. I could understand the representative very well and I can't be certain but it seemed to me that the rep was from the US. Also when I called originally for the problem the person I talked to also seemed to be American or was very proficient in English.

I really hope we are starting to get the jobs back in the US and our customer service coming back to the US. I know one thing I am more apt to buying products that have a US support team and US customer service. We need the jobs back and also we need to use those people in the US that can get the job done and not frustrate us by poor language or poor customer service. They need to remember Customer service is the best calling card you can have to generate new business.

Carolyn Roome
303-816-7112
http://getyourlifebackonline.com
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How Can a Better Writing Software Help You Write Better?

A dedicated better writing software can help you write better through checking your work in terms of the essentials. Such essentials include grammar, spelling, punctuation, flow and the correct use of adjectives and verbs. Spell check and grammar helpers in programs like Microsoft Word can be helpful but they lack sophistication or let mistakes go by. On the other hand, a spell checker in a dedicated better writing software will be able to spot errors that a standard spell checker will usually miss.

We now have better writing software that is designed to improve spelling, grammar and style. It can be used with a word processor. You can do this just be hitting F2. A new window will open with your text and you will see the software's suggestions. You will be offered a series of options that are colour-coded. This will be according to whether it's your spelling that has gone wrong, grammar that needs to be corrected or your style that's a little flat or too casual.

Unlike standard word processors, a dedicated better writing software would be language-specific. This means that even though it's a piece of American software, it knows when color is wrong, for instance. A comprehensive built in thesaurus as well as a dictionary enables a better writing software to do this.

If you are not sure of what you're writing, the better writing software would be of great help. It would be able to offer you reassurance, brief explanation or correction quickly and simply. It is able to pick up more mistakes than a word processor spotting missing prepositions or sloppy usage and grammar. For instance, it is good at inserting a full stop when you forget - the kind of error that passes unnoticed easily at the proof reading stage, too. Additionally, it offers the missing word if it can guess it. However, if you have left out something important that isn't guessable, it highlights it with the phrase "Missing Word" to alert you.

Like Word, the dedicated better writing software will suggest a correction when you accidentally capitalise two letters at the start of the word. The added benefit is that  includes contextual spelling to know, for example,when you mean except and when accept.

The good thing is that a dedicated better writing software comes in a generic version that is great for all types of writing. Where needed, there are more specific versions available. There is much more that a dedicated better writing can do. Read on and be pleasantly surprised.

Here is some of what else you will get with a dedicated better writing software:

* Grammar checker: Advanced English Grammar Correction. Detect and correct tricky grammar errors.8 * Punctuation Checker: Improve readability with accurate punctuation.

* Error Explanations: Learn from your mistakes with error explanations and English lessons!

* Style Checker: Improve your sentences, vocabulary, and writing style.

* Text enrichment: relevant adjectives and adverbs

* Spell checker: Fix typos and difficult to spell words.

* Proofreading tool in one click!

* Thesaurus synonyms: to expand your vocabulary

* Letter Templates: Start writing with over 600 letter templates.

* Advanced Dictionary-Thesaurus: Get accurate word definitions, synonyms, and idiomatic phrases

* Artificial Intelligence Technology

Need a specific version? How about:

1. Business Writing: For professional business writing

2. Creative Writing: For artistic and creative writing

3. Hi-Tech Writing: For hi-tech and IT professionals

4. Biotech Writing: For precise medical reports

5. Executive Package: The complete writing package

Not being able to write can be a huge constraint. Not being able to write better is a serious impediment to your progress. In today's environment, it is essential for success unless you are a politician. For them, talking is enough. Seriously though, if you want to write and write well,you can get all the help you need. Visit Better Writing for special offers and latest details.